I’ve been planning this backpacking trip with my girls for a long time. Well, I’ve been planning to take them backpacking since they were BORN. But this particular trip has been a long time in the works as well. There were a lot of logistics to get into place, not to mention a lot of gear to locate or purchase. (Another time I’ll do a separate post about our evolving gear list. Especially for kids, who are doing stuff like growing out of shoes before we can get home from the store (hyperbole! but barely), it’s a challenge locating gear that is sufficiently sturdy but also doesn’t destroy our budget).

After a whole lot of research (ie reading hiking blogs and generally daydreaming), I decided on Mount Lassen National Park. There are some great loop trails, the geology of the area is historically interesting (boring, Mom!) and visually exciting (yay!). It’s only about 4 hours from Sacramento, but it turns out that Lassen is one of the least visited national parks in the country. Everyone heads to Yosemite or other desitinations in the High Sierra, but we were headed north to volcano country! Bonus, a tiny portion of the trail we are to hike intersects with the PCT. Not gonna lie, that had a lot to do with my decision. I wanted my feet on the trail, even for a mile and a half.